


Fall For You

by foggynelson



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggynelson/pseuds/foggynelson
Summary: “So does that mean you’re not gonna ask me to dance?” Jace asks.
Simon looks back at him and tilts his head back and forth. “I don’t know. Why didn’t you just ask me to dance?”
“Didn’t want to seem desperate.”
“Are you desperate?”
“Terribly,” Jace replies with a sigh and a small laugh.
aka Simon and Jace have grown close over the course of Clary and Izzy's wedding planning and Simon has it bad.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bisexuallaurel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexuallaurel/gifts).



It’s not even Simon’s wedding and yet here he is, having a panic attack, because the flower delivery is twenty minutes late. They haven’t even called to, like, explain why they’re late and Simon’s tried them three times and there’s been no answer and his best friend is getting married and there is no way she can get married without her fucking bouquet!!! 

And yet it’s Clary that comes to Simon, puts her arms around him, and holds him, reminding him to take deep breaths. He does his best and slowly things start to feel solid again. Clary takes the phone from his hands, calls the number, and thankfully this time they answer. Clary chews them out for being late and they give her a twenty percent discount. She flashes a smile at Simon before hanging up.

“Told you everything would be fine,” she says. 

“You’re always right, aren’t you?” he says, the words feeling rough as they leave his throat.

“I am. Speaking of which, when are you gonna admit you have a crush on Izzy’s brother?”

“Alec? He’s dating Magnus! I would never!”

“Ha ha, Simon. You know what I’m talking about.”

“But I don’t? How could I? I, Simon Lewis, have never had a crush on anyone in my life.”

“You told me you were in love with me when we were twelve.”

Simon’s eyes shift back and forth across the room. “No comment.”

“I don’t know why you’re always so hesitant to ask people out, Simon. You’re great and anyone would be lucky to date you.”

“Um, let’s reflect on what happened the last time I asked someone out.”

“Who? Izzy? Well, Simon, she’s a lesbian. You can’t really blame her for not being into you,” Clary points out. “Plus that was literally a year and a half ago. You’ve been out on three dates since, all of which I’ve set up for you, none of which you liked. You’re gonna die alone.”

“But I’m too cute to die alone!” Simon whines.

“Then ask Jace out.”

“I may be too cute to die alone, but I’m not cute enough for that. He’s way out of my league. You know he was a model when he was in middle school. Middle school, Clary! Who looks good when they’re in middle school?”

“I looked good when I was in middle school.”

“That’s because you’re literally an angel. But us mere mortals are supposed to be weird and awkward looking, not fucking models.”

Clary sighs. “Back to the point. You should ask Jace out because a, you like him, b, you two have gotten along really well throughout the wedding planning, and c, I’m gonna start hitting you until you agree to go out with him,” she says, hand raised up, ready.

“You wouldn’t.”

“You know I would.” And Simon does know. She’s done it before and she’s a lot stronger than she looks. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll do it. I’ll ask Jace out.”

“Good,” Clary says with a smile. “Now where did I put my veil?”  


* * *

  
Simon has no intention of actually asking Jace out. Sure he agreed to it, but by the end of the night, Clary is gonna be so hyped on love and wine that she’ll have forgotten their whole conversation. Simon’s sure of it. He’s banking on it. He really doesn’t want her to hit him.

Clary doesn’t bring it up again, though, and that’s enough. Izzy has already walked down the aisle and now everyone is waiting for Clary. She steps in moments later, Luke at her side. The two walk and Simon smiles wide. He looks at Isabelle and notices she’s crying. When Clary is close enough, he notices she’s crying as well. They hold hands when they reach each other.

“They look so beautiful,” Maureen whispers in his ear. He turns his head slightly to look at her and nods. Clary wasn’t wrong about him being in love with her at one point. 

He’s nowhere near that anymore but she’s still one of the most beautiful people he’s ever seen. He finds himself wanting to cry, too. And he does when they say their vows. 

He looks down and rubs his eyes. When he looks up, he catches Jace’s gaze from the other side of the stage. He offers Simon a sweet smile and Simon feels himself blush - not because he likes Jace, but because he’s embarrassed that he was crying. Yeah. That’s definitely it.

Hearing them both say ‘I do’ has Simon tearing up again. Clary’s his best friend and has been for ages and here she is - in love, happy, with the person she loves more than anything. Simon is so happy for her and as they kiss, he feels tears falling down his face again. He looks over and sees Jace and finds him crying, too.  


* * *

  
The reception is beautifully decorated. Which isn’t a surprise considering Magnus was in charge of it all. Everything he touches is beautiful. Simon has always been in awe of Magnus. He’s a few years older than him, a senior when he was a freshman in high school, and Simon literally spent his freshman year thinking he was the coolest person in the world. And he is. It’s years later and Simon hasn’t met anyone cooler than him.

Simon grabs himself a glass of wine and stands in the corner and watches everyone. At this point, most people are dancing. Clary and Isabelle are at the center, dancing along to the bright pop song. Clary’s parents, Jocelyn and Luke, are dancing too. Simon is surprised to see that Magnus has managed to get Alec on the dancefloor with him (Alec doesn’t move much with his dancing, whereas Magnus is amazing and graceful). Maureen is there with her wife, Lydia, dancing close. Simon smiles when the song changes and Luke goes and asks Simon’s mother to dance. 

“Not much of a dancer?” Simon looks away from the dance floor and sees Jace standing next to him. 

“Oh no, I’m a great dancer,” Simon replies. And he is. Specifically ballroom dancing. Clary wanted to take classes when they were young and Simon’s mom thought it would be a good idea for him to take them, too. Not that he needed another reason for kids to bully him but…

“Then why aren’t you dancing?” Jace questions.

“Not sure who I’d ask,” Simon answers. It’s a lie. Obviously. Simon knows exactly who he would like to ask to dance. Actually doing it is a different story, though. “Maybe I’ll ask Magnus. He’s pretty great.”

“Alec sucks at dancing and pretty much hates it but I can tell you he would not be cool with you asking his fiancé to dance.”

“When are they even gonna get married? Haven’t they been engaged for, like, two years?”

“You know how Magnus is with wedding stuff. I think they’ve set a date for August, though. I think Magnus was looking towards a spring wedding, but-”

“Clary and Izzy took the spring wedding away from him,” Simon finishes.

“Basically. I know Magnus was talking about flying out to Hawaii and getting married there, which would be cool, but can you imagine the cost? I mean it’s not like he can teleport us or make some kind of portal to transport us all there.”

“Now that would be cool. If Magnus figures out a way to do that, please let me know. There are some places I’d love to go.”

“Like where?” Jace asks.

“I really want to go to South America. My dad was from Columbia and I have a lot of family down there I’ve never met. It would be amazing to connect with them and learn more about my dad and everything.”

“That would be great. I can totally see how it would be good to have that connection with your father,” Jace replies, his voice softer, lower than it had been before. Jace looks down, away from Simon and he wonders if he’s done something wrong. 

Still, Simon continues on. “Yeah, totally. There are so many other places I’d love to go, too. Can you imagine going anywhere you want, whenever you want? Actually, I feel like that would totally be bad. Like, in middle school I was super into anime and stuff and I totally wanted to go to Japan. Which, of course, would be amazing and great, but middle school me? In Japan? That would have been a mess.”

“I feel like any middle schooler traveling anywhere is kind of a messy idea.”

“Totally! Even when I went on trips with my family, I was a weird kid. Middle school was a dark time for us all, you know?” Simon chuckles and then says, “Oh shit. I forgot you were a model. That’s gotta be… Well, a lot less dark.”

Jace laughs and has this bright smile on his face. “I don’t know about that. Maybe it was even darker. Like, if you had a bad hair day, it wasn’t a big deal. But if I did? Total end of the world.”

“Yeah, but you had hair stylists to fix your hair. I just had Clary. And don’t get me wrong, I love Clary, but she’s not the most talented with a brush. A hairbrush, that is. Other brushes for painting she’s really great with,” Simon clarifies. 

“I guess that’s a good point. Although it does seem Clary has gotten better. Her hair looks amazing today. Those braids are beautiful.”

“Thank you very much. I did that.”

“You _didn’t_.”

“I did,” Simon says proudly, grinning. “My older sister taught me how to braid her hair at a young age and then I just kind of learned how to do more hair stuff and whatnot. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Nah man, that’s really cool. Izzy would probably kill me if I tried to do her hair. I care a lot about my hair, obviously, but that’s a little different.”

“You do have really great hair.”

“I do, don’t I?” Jace says, laughing, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. And yeah. It is really great hair. It’s just one of the millions of small things that Simon likes about Jace. Not one of the most significant aspects, but it’s definitely nice.

“So. You ever gonna ask me to dance?” Simon looks over at Jace, unsure that he heard him correctly. He gives Jace this look full of confusion and wonder and Jace laughs and says, “Sorry, I just thought if I came over and talked to you you’d get the courage to ask me to dance.”

“Why would you assume I wanted to dance with you?”

“Raphael.”

“Raphael?”

“Raphael.”

“Fucking Raphael,” Simon says, bitter. And then: “Wait, why am I upset with Raphael?”

“He told me you like me.”

“And he knows that how?”

“Apparently Raphael just knows these things.”

“Huh,” Simon says, making a note of getting after Raphael. Simon looks around the room and spots him with his boyfriend Ragnor. They’re talking and Raphael is drinking red wine and has the smallest smile on his face - which is a big deal for him. Simon decides to wait to get after him.

“So does that mean you’re not gonna ask me to dance?” Jace asks.

Simon looks back at him and tilts his head back and forth. “I don’t know. Why didn’t you just ask me to dance?”

“Didn’t want to seem desperate.”

“Are you desperate?”

“Terribly,” Jace replies with a sigh and a small laugh.

“Well in that case, we should dance.”

“I suppose we can. If you insist.” Jace smiles brightly at Simon and offers him his hand. Simon takes it and Jace leads them to the dance floor.

It’s different - dancing, that is, when you’re not leading. Jace leads and Simon is a little off step but Jace just smiles at him, even when Simon steps on his foot. Simon smiles back at him.

They don’t talk, which is weird and Simon feels like he needs to say something, but he doesn’t. The music is nice and Simon likes being this close to Jace. Jace’s hands are warm and Jace is beautiful and Simon wonders what it would be like to kiss him.

And Simon thinks maybe he will. Maybe they’ll kiss and… and? Well. That’s obviously going to be it because while Jace has been great tonight and the other times they’ve been together - Jace is Jace and Simon is Simon and they’re on such different levels. They don’t belong together. More accurately, Simon doesn’t belong with someone like Jace.

Which is okay. It’s something Simon’s always known. He’s a good person in a lot of ways. He’s funny and a good friend and can sing pretty well but… He’s not cool or suave and he’s a total mess all the time and Jace is about as close to a god as a person can be. So yeah. Not exactly made for each other.

But Simon… Simon pushes these thoughts away and lets himself focus on how good it feels to be with Jace. Because it feels so good. Simon could definitely go for feeling like this forever. Or at least for the rest of the night.

When the song ends, Simon expects Jace to pull away, but Jace doesn’t, they stay close and continue to dance. Even when the song changes to something more upbeat and they’re bouncing around, they still stand close. It’s nice. More than nice, really. Good, wonderful, beautiful, _perfect_. 

It’s announced that this will be the last dance before Clary and Izzy leave. It’s another slow song and everyone steps back and watches as the two of them dance. Slowly other people start to join in and dance, but Jace and Simon stay just watching them.

Simon feels like crying again, like he did at the wedding. It’s still so amazing to think that his best friend is married. He’s wanted nothing more than for Clary to be happy and Simon has never seen her happy like she is now. It means so much to him and they’re so sweet and Simon smiles wide as he watches them.

And then Jace grabs his hand and Simon doesn’t know how, but he smile grows even wider as he glances down at their hands. He looks at Jace, who is smiling, too, and Simon feels… good. Really good.

Clary and Isabelle leave, waving and blowing kisses at everyone. After they’ve left, Simon turns to Jace, unsure of what to say or do now. He assumes this is it, the night is over and there’s no reason for them to really see each other any more. Granted, they’ll probably see each other again, but not like they have been, multiple times a week. They work on opposite sides of town and while they know a lot of the same people, they never really hung out together and Simon doesn’t see that changing.

So Simon flashes Jace a smile and says, “I’m gonna miss seeing you around so much.”

Jace gives him this look that Simon… can’t place at all. But Jace looks at him and then nods. “Yeah. I’m gonna miss it, too.” Jace lets go of Simon’s hand and Simon feels his face drop as he glances down at his newly freed hand. He smiles again, though, when he looks back up at Jace.

“I’ll probably see you around, though,” Simon says. 

“Sure, yeah,” Jace replies and then coughs. “I should go. Raphael probably wants to get back to the apartment and I’m his ride so.”

“I think he and Ragnor already left.”

“Of course they did. I don’t know why they don’t move into together. Raphael spends more time at his place and than ours. I asked him once and he said something about how Ragnor’s house was too British, whatever that means? I don’t know. I think he’s a little scared of commitment.”

“Who isn’t, though?” Simon counters.

“Good point,” Jace says with a laugh. He smiles and they look at each other and Simon doesn’t want the night to end. The words are on the tip of his tongue, ready to escape his lips, asking Jace to go out for coffee or something but… Simon can’t say it. He’s not that person.

“Cool cool. Um, I need to find Magnus and ask him something so yeah. See you around?” Simon says and waves, walking off before Jace and him and fall back into talking again. Being with Jace is too easy. It’s soft and nice and Simon likes it too much considering it’s something he can never have.  


* * *

  
Simon never thinks about Jace anymore.

The End.

Or at least that’s how Simon wanted it to go. It was hard to not think about Jace. He’d hang out with Clary and Izzy and Izzy would bring Jace up. Simon would call Raphael for one of their weekly book chats and he would hear Jace in the background. Simon would go to a party of Magnus’ and see Jace and…

Well, Simon ran out of the party as fast as he could and didn’t go back. Which is 100% a normal thing to do. Absolutely not an indicator that Simon still has a crush on Jace. Because he doesn’t. Why would he? It’s not like Jace is one of the nicest people he’s ever met. It’s not like Jace is so beautiful in every way. It’s not like… It’s not like Jace makes Simon feel warm and happy and good about himself.

Of course not. Because if Jace was that person, why would Simon have ever been stupid enough to let him go? 

Simon manages to go a month and a half without seeing Jace. Well. Minus that whole party incident, but Simon doesn’t count that. He’s made it a month and a half but today, that’s gonna change. It’s Izzy’s birthday and Simon has to go, of course, and Jace is going to be there, of course, and Simon doesn’t think he’ll be able to get away with running away again.

Clary had asked Simon to take Izzy out for lunch so that she could work on setting up the house and everything. Simon is more than happy to do so and Isabelle is full of smiles when he picks her up. They go to a small place a few blocks away from hers and Clary’s place. Simon’s never been, but Isabelle swears they have the best Mexican food.

It’s nice being with Isabelle. They slip in between Spanish and English and they order their food in Spanish, chatting with the workers there. It’s nice. Simon doesn’t use his Spanish anywhere near as much as he’d like. 

The food is definitely amazing and Simon and Izzy laugh a lot as they eat. Simon hasn’t spent much time with just Isabelle and it’s really nice. It was a little weird after he had first met her and proceeded to ask her out. He wasn’t upset that she turned him down (being a lesbian was definitely an understandable reason for her to say no (not that she needed an “understandable” reason to say no) but rather felt embarrassed, as if he should have just known or something. 

Then her and Clary started dating and suddenly Isabelle was everywhere he and Clary were. Which was fine, honestly. The more time he spent with Isabelle, the more he liked her. She’s sweet and funny and charming and extremely smart. She’ll often start talking about something Simon has no idea about and he’ll just smile as he listens to her. It’s nice.

And that’s what’s happening now. She’s talking about some science topic Simon doesn’t even remember but he’s trying to follow along only he’s completely lost but Isabelle looks so happy as he talks that he just smiles at her anyway.

Isabelle looks up from her rice a moment later and says, “Sorry, I know I talk too much about this stuff. Let’s talk about you. What’s new? You dating anyone? Not to be your mother, but when are you going to settle down, Si? You deserve a nice person.”

“Don’t you think if I was dating someone Clary would have told you.”

“True. I don’t know, though. You know Clary, always living with this air of mystery around her.”

“Oh yeah. That’s totally Clary,” Simon laughs. Isabelle grins. “Yeah. Not dating anyone.”

“You like anyone?”

“I think you know the answer to that one.”

“Still?” Isabelle asks, looking Simon right in the eye. “Wow. I assumed you were over that considering you didn’t do anything. I saw you guys dancing at the wedding and then there was nothing so I just thought… that was over.”

“I thought it would be by now. It’s been a month and a half and I should be over him but… I’m not. I really like him, Iz.”

“Of course you do. He’s a Lightwood. We are all pretty amazing,” Isabelle replies with a chuckle. Then: “You know, you could always just ask him out.”

“And be rejected by a second Lightwood? Should I ask out Alec, too, to round it off? It’d be really creepy if I asked out Max so I’m not even gonna make that joke.”

“Thanks for that.” Isabelle flashes a smile. “Really though, why do you assume he’ll reject you?”

“Have you seen him? Have you seen me? He’s, like, way out of my league.”

“League, Simon? That’s so high school. First off, you’re super cute for a guy. But more importantly, stuff like that just doesn’t matter. Like, of course Clary is absolutely beautiful but that’s not why I love her. Is that why you like Jace?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why do you think that’s all Jace is gonna care about? You’re an amazing person all around, Simon. Good and caring and kind and talented and, yes, a bit of a dork, but it’s charming. You’re such a good person. Jace would be lucky to have you. Of course, you’d be lucky to have him, too. A good match in my opinion.”

“Fine. Okay. I’ll ask him out or something.”

“Really? Because you promised Clary on our wedding that you would and then you didn’t.”

“Really. I think. At least I actually mean it this time.”

“Good.” Isabelle smiles at him.  


* * *

  
And Simon does mean it. He plans on it but then - well. Then Jace walks in and Simon remembers why he didn’t want to ask him in the first place. The party’s been going on for about twenty minutes now. Almost everyone else is there, the only other people missing being Raphael (who slips in behind Jace) and Meliorn.

Jace makes his way over to Isabelle and hugs her. They talk and Jace has this bright, sweet smile on his face and Simon is melting on the spot.

Then Jace spots Simon and they look at each other in the eye and Simon smiles and Jace’s smile widens and Simon’s heart jumps and every part of Simon is telling him to run away and yet his legs are walking him over to Jace.

“Hey,” Jace says when they reach other. He’s still smiling and Simon doesn’t even feel like this is real.

“Hey,” he replies. “How have you been?”

“Not too bad.” He looks down and then runs his hand through his hair. “I’ve missed you.”

“You said you would.”

“I did, didn’t I? Did you really think I would?”

“No. I knew I would and I was right. I assumed you were gonna be excited to not have to deal with me talking about Star Wars anymore.”

“Just because I prefer Star Trek doesn’t mean I hate Star Wars. Plus I like listening to you talk.”

“You do?” Simon heart beats fast in his chest.

“I do.” Simon’s heart stops beating completely. Okay, not really, but that’s a romantic thing people say and Simon feels that level of romance here. 

“There’s something I want to ask you,” Jace says and Simon looks at him wondering what it could be.

“Oh there’s something I wanted to ask you, too.”

“You first?” Jace offers.

“Or you can go.”

“Or we can say it at the same time.”

“Don’t you think that’ll be a little messy?” Simon questions.

“Probably. Let’s do it anyway.”

Simon laughs. “All right. On three?”

“On three.”

They count down together and Simon says, “Do you want to go out with me?” and Jace says, “I think we should go out on a date. If you want to?” It takes Simon a second before he realizes what Jace has said and Simon starts to laugh.

“Wow Jace, I didn’t realize you felt that way about me. I suppose we could go out on a date. I wouldn’t totally hate that.”

Jace gives Simon a confused look and says, “You know you just asked me out.”

“Okay true, but you asked me out too!”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one acting like I’m doing you some big favor by dating you.”

“Well maybe I am!” Simon replies, laughing. 

Jace has a grin on his face as he says, shaking his head, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I want to date you.”

“See! You admitted it again! You wanna date me!”

Jace sighs. “Of course I do, you idiot. I’ve wanted to for ages.”

“Really?” Simon asks, his eyes wide.

“Really.” Jace reaches out and grabs hold of Simon’s hand. Simon looks down at their hands and a familiar warmth spreads over him. 

“You know, you’re gonna have to kiss me at some point,” Simon points out.

“I assumed so.”

“You know, you could always just kiss me now. You know. To get it over with.”

Jace laughs. “Well I suppose I might as well then.” Jace leans down and they’re kissing and Simon is pretty sure this all has to be a dream because real life Jace Lightwood kissing him? No way! No way?

Only… It is real? And it’s good and Jace is good and tastes sweet and Simon feels warm and safe and happy and Simon smiles into the kiss before they part and Simon can’t help but giggle. Jace looks at him and rolls his eyes.

“You always gonna laugh whenever we kiss?” Jace asks.

“I wanna say no, but I don’t think I can make that promise.”

“Surprising I still want to kiss you.”

“I know, I’m pretty great.”

“You are.” Simon blushes and looks down. “Anyway, I feel like we should join the rest of the party. Not that I don’t want to spend all my time with you, but it is Izzy’s birthday after all.”

“Okay, five minutes with Iz and then back to kissing?” Simon grins.

“How can I say no?” Jace pulls Simon along and they join the party. They have a good time. They don’t kiss after five minutes, but it’s not more than a half hour later that Jace pulls Simon back into the hallway and kisses him again.

“This is good,” Jace says when they part.

“I know. We already established that I’m a good kisser.”

“Not that. I mean yes, you are, but I’m talking about us. You and me. This is good.”

Simon nods. “It is.” And it is. It really is. It’s new and obviously there are a million of different things that can go wrong but… Simon doesn’t see that happening. Jace is sweet and caring and soft and Simon feels better when he’s around. And yeah, Simon knows things will go wrong and they’ll have hard times and no one, not even Jace Lightwood, is perfect. But that’s okay. 

Because Simon doesn’t need perfection. He just needs _Jace_.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic back in August and I honestly can't believe I finished it. I would like to thank Alice (bi-magnus on tumblr) for so, so much help on this fic. She's a real life saver and basically the only reason this fic exists. 
> 
> Thank you so, so much for reading. Comments and kudos are, as always, wonderful and very appreciated!!!
> 
> (Also, I doubt anyone but me and Rydian cares but. The reason Raphael hasn't moved in with Ragnor yet is Raphael doesn't want to move away from his best friend because he loves him so much and relies on him and they're good but eventually Ragnor gets after him enough and they decide to move into together and it's not much later that Simon and Jace get a place together (it's faster than Simon feels like it should be, but it also feels right and Simon loves Jace with more than he can say so. It works. They work and it's really, really good.)


End file.
